The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-01-07
MEASURING TIME.
New Year Sermon by Rev. IT. De
Witt Talmage, D: D.
The UnwisdOm of Estimating Ones Life
ON Earth by Mere worldly Gratitica-
tion- The Christian Way of Count
ing III me-A Contrast.

BROOKLYN, Jan. 2.-AIr. Talmage chose
for his text to-day part of the eighth
verse of the forty-seventh chapter OF Gene
sis; "How old art thouin The sermon
was as followsi
The Egyptian Capital was the focus OF
the worlds wealth. In ships and Farges
there had been brought to it from India
franlzincense, and cinnamon, and ivory5
and diamonds; from the north, marble and
iron; from Syria, purple and silk; from
Greece, some OF the finest horses Of the
world, and some of the most brilliant char
lots and from all the earth that which
could best please the eye, and charm the
ear and crafty the taste. There were
temples aflame with red sandstone, entered
by gateways that were guarded by pillars
beWildering wish hierOglyphlcs, an wound
with brazen serpents. and adorned with
winged Creatures-their eyes, and beaks,
and pinions glittaring with precious stones.
There were marble columns blooming INTO
white flower beds; there were stone pits
lars, at the top bursting into the shape OF
the lotus when in full bloom.
Along the avenues, lined with sphinx,
and fame, and obehsk there were princes
who came in gorgeously upholstered palan-
quin, carried by servants in scarlet, or else
where drawn by vehicles; the snOW-white
horses, golden bitted and six abreast dash
ing at full run. There were fountains from
stone wreathed vases clim mbing the ladders
of the light. You would hear bolt shove
and door of brass would open like a flash
of the sun. The surrounding gardens were
saturated with Od0rs that mounted the
terrace and dripped from the arbors, and
burned their incense in the Egyptian noon.
On floors of mosaic the glories of Pha-
rOah were spelled out in letters of pOrphy-
ry, and beryI, and Hame There were or
3
risk, embossed with silver, breaking into
foam. There We're fCotstooIs made out of a
single precious stone. There were beds
fashioned out of q croUChed lion in bronze.
There were chairs spotted with the sleek
hides Of leopards. There were sofas footed
with the claws Of wild beasts and armed
with the beaIs of birds. As you stand on
the level beach Of the sea on a summer day
aud lock either way there are miles of
breakers, white with the ocean foam, dash
ing shoreward; soft seemed as if the sea of
the worlds pomp and wealth in the Egyp-
tian capital for miles and miles flung itself
up into white breakers Of marble temple,
maus0leum and obelisk.
1t was to this capital and the palace Of
Pharoah that Jacob the PLAIN shepherd,
came to meet his son Joseph, who had be-
come Prime Minister in the royal apart
ment Pharaoh and Jacob meet, dignity
and rustcity, the gracefulness Of the court
and the plain manners Of the field. The
King, wanting TO make the old country
man at ease, and seeing how white his
beard is and how feeble his step, looks IA
mihaTly into his face and says to the aged
man: GLOW old art thOa3'
Night before last tue gate of eternity
opened to let in, amid the great throng Of
departed centuries, the soul Of the dying
year. Under the twelfth stroke of the
brazen hammer of the city clock the
patriarch fell dead, and the stars OF the
night were the funeral torches. 1t is most
fortunate that on this road OF life there are
so many milestoncs, on which we can read
just how fast we are going toward the
journeys end. ] feel that it is not an IN
appropriate question that 1 ask to-day
when 1 look into your faces and say, as
Pharoah did to Jacob, the patriarch: "HOW
old art thoug'
People who are truthful on every other
subject lie about their ages, 50 that 1 do
not solicit from you any literal response to
the question I have asked. would put no
one under temptation; but I simply want
this morning to see by what rod it is we
are measuring our earthly existence.
There is u right way and a wrong way Of
measuring a door, or a wall, or an arch, or
a tower; and so there is a right way and a
wrong way of measuring our earthly eX-
istence. It is with reference to this higher
with the stupeudous question Of the text
and ask: {" How old art thoul"
There are many who estimate their life
by mere worldly qualification. When Lord
Dundas was wished d happy New Year,
he said: - 1t will have to be a happier year
than the past, for l hadn't one happy mo-
ment in all the twelve months that have
gone" But that has not been tEe experience
Of most Of US; we have found that though
the. world is blasted with sin, it is a very
bright and beautiful place to reside in; Z;
we have had joys iuuumerable. There is
no hostility between the Gospel and the
merriments and the festivities Of life.
1 do not think that we fully enough ap-
preciate the worldly pleasures God gives
US. When you recount your eujoyments,
you do not go far enough back Why do
you not 60 back to the time when You wero
an infant in your mothers arms, looking
up into the heaven Of her smile-to those
days WHOM you filed the house with the
uproar Of bOisterous INSTRUMENTATION you
shouted as you pitched the bali on the play
ground-When, on the cold, sharp winter
night, mufled up, on skates you shot out
over the resounding ice OF the pond3 Have
you forgotten all those good days that the
Lord gave you3 We're you never a boy
Were you never a girlz Between those
times and this, how many mercies, how
many kndne esses the Lord has bestowed
upon you. how many joys have breathed
up to you from the flowers, and shOne down
to you from the stars, and chanted to
you with the voice of soaring birds, and
tumbHng cascade, and booming sea, and
thunders that with bayCnets Of fire charged
down the mountain side Joy Joyl JOY
If there is any one who has a right to the
enjoyments of the world it is tlte Christian,
for God has given him a lease TO every
thing in the promise: g All are yours"
I,r to D eseff-
mates his life on earth by mere worldly
qualification is a most unwise man. Our
life is not to be a game Of chess; II IS not
dance in lighted hall to quick music; it is
not the frOth of an ale pitcher; it is not the
settings Of a wine cup; II is not banquet
with intoxicatiOu and registering 1t IS the
first step on a ladder that mounts into the
skies, or the first step on a road that
plunges into horrl Ole abyss. So that in
this world we are only keying up the harp
Of a rapture, or forging the chain Of a bond
age And standing before you to-day
with life on the one side and death on the
other-sOng on the one side and 0roaning
on the Other-mansions on the one side and
dungeons on the Other-HeaVen on the one
side and hell on the othcr-I put to you the
question Of the text: 8. How old art thoul"
Towards what dest NY are you tending, and
how fast are you getting on toward itl
Again, remark that there are many
vino estimate their life on earth by their
sorrows and misfortunes Through a great
many Of your lives the plOwshare hath
gone very deep, turning up terrible fur
row. You have been betrayed aud mis-
represented and set upon, and slapped by
impertineuce, and pounded By misfortune.
The brightest life must have its shadows.
and the smoothest path It's thOrns. On the
haDpiest brood the hawk pounces. No es-
cape from trouble Of some kind. While
glorious John Milton was losing his eye
sight he heard that Salmasius was glad Of
it; while Sheridan comedy was being en-
acted IN Drary Lane Tueater Cum berland,
his enemy sat growing 40 1T ia the stage
box. while Efahou lsfts5tas. s-as efgr-rrf4 ~ ad